Decision makers

Give Liza Cozad access to the cancer drug that could save her life!

Liza Cozad is 46 years old and has always spent her time helping others - now she needs our help in her fight against brain cancer, because the FDA is refusing to give her the treatment that could save her life. Liza served as an attorney in California for 15 years before retiring to help people more directly. She started a senior in-home care agency to help seniors stay safe in their homes, as well as two fitness centers designed to keep older adults healthy. She also served on the board of directors of Whistlestop - the local non-profit serving older adults. She spent all her free time helping others - and playing competitive tennis - and now she needs our help. Six months ago, Liza was diagnosed with a deadly brainstem tumor - called a DIPG - it rarely strikes in adults (only about 20 in the U.S. each year) but is unfortunately common among brain tumors in children - and just as deadly - a year to a year and a half to live. No doctor can perform surgery to remove due to its location, chemo has consistently shown to be ineffective on Liza's type of tumor, and even the radiologist tells her her best case scenario with radiation is it would return in 1-2 years, more aggressively, and they could no longer radiate. There is one drug that could save Liza's life. The drug - ANP - has been approved for Phase III clinical trials by the FDA. This means it has been deemed safe (Phase I trials) and effective (Phase II trials). The FDA has continually denied Liza's request for the treatment under a Single Patient Protocol (the FDA format under which she could be approved), saying they have questions for the manufacturer about the drug based on one patient out of hundreds' response to sodium levels. They have cotinued with this for a year - each time the manufacturer answers all their questions, the FDA keeps coming back with more - all the time denying any new patients - including Liza - from receiving this drug the FDA has itself acknowledged to be safe and effective. This precious and caring young woman has been fighting her fight since April, but her health is declining. This drug has a documented 27% success rate on her exact kind of tumor - which is 27% better than her odds with all standard therapies - and with some children still cancer-free over 20 years later. Please take action now - sign this petition and, just as importantly, share this petition with all your online friends, asking them to sign and share. You may remember the little girl in the news a few months ago who received FDA approval for an adult pair of lungs - this is exactly how she did it - WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!